Support for rotor-driven antenna



y 1956 J. P. CHADOWSKI ETAL 2,756,955

SUPPORT FOR ROTOR-DRIVEN ANTENNA 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24. 1953INVENTORS JOSEPH R CHAOOWSK/ y a FELIX WEISS A 7' TOR/VE Y5 UnitedStates Patent SUPPORT FOR ROTOR-DRIVEN ANTENNA Joseph P. Chadowski,Cleveland, Ohio, and Felix Weiss, Newton Center, Mass., assignors toCornell-Dubilier Electric Corporation, South Plainfield, N. .l., acorporation of Delaware Application July 24, 1953, Serial No. 370,091

Claims. (Cl. 248-45) This invention relates, as indicated, to arotor-driven antenna.

It has heretofore been necessary, in connection with rotor-driventelevision antennas and the like, to completely dismantle the antennawhenever it became necessary to remove the driving motor or rotor forrepair or replacement purposes. The reason for this was that the driveor rotor was, in one way or another, more or less permanently assembledwith the antenna as a unitary part thereof.

This created a condition in which the antenna became useless until thedriving motor or rotor was repaired or replaced, and imposed a seriousdisadvantage, both from the standpoint of the delays involved as well asthe labor and cost of dismantling of the antenna.

The present invention has as its primary object the provision of arotor-driven antenna for television purposes and the like, in which thedriving motor or rotor and gears and other driving elements associatedtherewith are housed as a unit which can be easily and quickly removedfor repair or replacement purposes, without, in any way, disturbing theantenna or rendering it useless during the period of repair orreplacement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an antenna and rotorarrangement which is assembled with each other by a simple coupling andpin device which enables the driving motor to be removed from theassembly in a matter of seconds or minutes, without affecting theutility of the antenna proper.

A further object of the invention is to provide an antenna and rotorarrangement which is mounted on a single mast, thereby eliminating theneed for separate masts or supports for the motor and antenna.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means forpreventing rotation of the antenna during periods of use when thedriving motor is not being used or assembled with the antenna.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Fig. l is a front elevational view, showing the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention will be seento comprise a tubular supporting mast 1, of any desired height orlength, which may be rigidly supported in any conventional manner, as onthe ground, on a roof, on a chimney, or on a tower.

Secured to the mast 1, as by means of mast clamps 2, and nuts 3, is abracket or antenna mast support 4, which is preferably made as a unitarycasting consisting 2,756,955 Patented July 31, 1956 "ice of verticallyspaced portions 5 and 6, which are rigidly interconnected by a column 7of T-shaped cross-section. The portions 5 and 6 have bolts 8 extendingrearwardly therefrom which pass through the clamps 2 and have the nuts 3secured to the ends thereof.

The portions 5 and 6 of the bracket 4 are formed to provide collars 9and 10 respectively.

Disposed within the collar 9 is an antenna mast supporting sleeve 11having an annular flange 12 at its upper end, whereby the sleeve 11 issupported for rotation on a thrust bearing 13. A sleeve bearing 14 isinterposed between the sleeve 11 and the inner wall of the collar 9, thebearing 14 taking the lateral or side thrust of the sleeve 11 duringrotation of the latter. The sleeve 11 is retained against axialdisplacement vertically from the collar 9 by means of a split retainingring 15 which is disposed in an annular groove 16 in the lower end ofthe sleeve 11 and underlies the lower ends of the bearing 14 and collar9. The sleeve 11 is also provided with three circumferentially-spacedlocking screws 17 which extend radially through the flange 12, and areprovided with lock nuts 18 for locking the screws in adjusted position.The function of these screws 17 will presently be described.

Disposed within the collar 10 is an antenna supporting sleeve 19 havingan annular flange 20 at its upper end, whereby the sleeve 19 issupported for rotation on a thrust bearing 21. A sleeve bearing 22 isinterposed between the sleeve 19 and the inner wall of the collar 10,the bearing 22 taking the lateral or side thrust of the sleeve 19 duringrotation of the latter. The sleeve 19 is retained against axialdisplacement from the collar 10 by means of a split retaining ring 23which is disposed in an annular groove 24 in the lower end of the sleeve19 and underlies the lower ends of the bearing 22 and collar 10. Thesleeve 19 is also provided with three circumferentially-spaced lockingscrews 25 which extend radiallythrough the flange 20 and are providedwith lock nuts 26 for locking the screws in adjusted position. Thefunction .of the screws 25 will be presently described.

The sleeve 19 is closed at the bottom, as at 27, and rising centrallyfrom the bottom 27 is a conical element 28, which serves as a supportfor the tubular antenna mast 29, which may be of various diameters up tosubstantially the internal diameters of the sleeves 11 and 19. Due tothe conicity of the element 28, the lower end of the mast 29 isautomatically centered with respect to the sleeves 11 and 19.Intermediate portions of the mast 29 are centered with respect to thesleeves 11 and 19 by means of the screws 17 and 25, which screws, aftercentering the mast, are locked in position by the lock nuts 18 and 26.

The bottom 27 of the sleeve 19 is provided with a downwardly extendingaxial extension 30, which is provided at its lower end with adiametrically-extending slot 31, the purpose of which will be presentlyexplained.

Secured to the mast 1, as by means of a mast clamp 32 and nuts 33, is arotor housing 34, which has bolts 35 extending rearwardly therefrom,which pass through the clamp32 and have the nuts 33 secured to the endsthereof. The rotor housing 34 encloses a rotor motor and suitabledriving or reduction gears for rotating the antenna mast 29 through theintermediary of a drive shaft 36 and coupling 37. The rotor motor anddriving or reduction gears are not shown, since these may beconventional, the housing 34, the rotor motor, the driving gears, andthe shaft 36 constituting, for the purposes of the present invention, asingle drive unit.

The coupling 37 has an opening or recess 38 in its upper end forreception of the extension 30, and is provided with a pin 39 extendingdiametrically across the opening or recess 38, the pin normallyextending through J thev slot 31 to establish a driving connectionbetween the coupling and extension 30. The coupling 37 is also providedin its lower end with a diametrically-extending slot 40 into which atenon-like extension 41 of the shaft 35ext'endsto establish a drivingconnection between the shaft 36 and the coupling 37.

It will be readily understood from the aforesaid description that theantenna mast 29 is rotated by the drive unit through the shaft '36,extension 41, coupling 37, extensionlatl', sleeves'1'9and 11 and screws25 and 17.

When it is desired torrepair or replace the drive unit, it is onlynecessary to remove the nuts 33 and clamp 32, and then slip the driveunit downwardly, so as to remove the shaft. 36 from the coupling 37, thecoupling then falling awayfrom the extension 3%. This can be done in amatter" of seeonds or minutes, and without, in any way,'-nisturbinthe'antenna mast 29 or its supporting parts. I'n'oth'er words, theantenna mast and antenna remain in use pendingrepair or replacement'ofthe drive unit and do not require dismantling. The utility of theantenna is not in any way 'aifected, and labor costs incidental t'odismantling of the antenna mast and the antenna supported thereby areentirely eliminated.

In order to prevent the antenna mast 29 from being rotated by the wind,after the drive unit has been removed for-repair or replacementpurposes, we have provided a wedge member 42 which is loosely mounted ona screw 43 which extends through the column 4, and has a slot 44 forreception of a screw driver. The member 42 is normally out of contactwith the mast 29, so as not to interfere with rotation of the mast bythe drive unit. When the drive unit is removed, the screw 43 is adjustedto bring the member 42 into wedging engagement with the mast 29',thereby preventing the mast from being rotated by the wind.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention, herewith shownand described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In combination, a vertical supporting post, an antenna supportingmast spaced from and parallel with said post, means secured to said postfor supporting said m'ast'for rotation, said means including a castingclamped to 'said post and having vertically-spaced bearing collars,sleeves'journ'alled for rotation in said collars, the sleeve in'thelowercollar having a wall across its lower end, said mast resting upon saidwell in said sleeve, a driving motor mounted, on said post, a drivingshaft connection between said motor and said lower sleeve, said sleeveshaving flanges at their upper ends resting on the respective collarswhereby the mast is supported by the post independently of the drivingmotor.

2. The combination, as defined in claim 1, including screws extendingradially through said flanges and bearing against said mast, said screwsbeing adjustable for centralizing said mast with respect to saidsleeves.

3. The combination, as defined in claim 2, including a member threadedlymounted on said casting and adjustable relatively to said mast to bearagainst said mast for preventing rotation of said'mast, when desired.

4. In combination, a vertical supporting post, an antenna supportingmast spaced from and parallel with said post, means secured to said postfor supporting said mast for rotation, said means including a memberclamped to said post and having atleast one bearing collar, a sleevejournalled for rotation in said collar, mast-supporting means providedon said sleeve, a driving motor, a bracket carried by said motor'andmounted on said post independently of said mast-supporting means,

a driving shaft connection between said motor and said sleeve, and meansfor supporting said sleeve on said collar, whereby the mast is supportedby the post independently of the driving motor.

' 5. In combination, a vertical supporting post, a verticalantenna-supporting mast disposed in horizontallyspaced relationship tosaid post and parallel thereto, a support member secured to said post,rotatable means carried by said support member for engaging said mast tomaintain said mast against downward displacement relatively to saidsupport member and for rotating said mast, a rotary motor drive unithaving a driving connection engageable with said means to effectrotation thereof, a bracket integral with said drive unit, and means forr'eleasably securing said bracket to said post independently of saidsupport member to normally maintain said drive unit against displacementrelatively to said support member, said drive unit and bracket beingbodily movable along said post to disconnect the driving connectionfromsaid first-named means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,391,202 Tellander et al. Dec. 18, 1945 2,499,011 Weeks Feb. 28, 19502,566,897 Koenig Sept. '4, 1951 2,578,151 Ronfeldt Dec. 11,19512,630,835 Russell Mar. 10, 1953 2,650,051 Za'robsky et al. Aug. 25; 19532,676,486 La'zan Aprf27, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 463,261 Canada Feb. 21,1950 678,793 Great Britain Sept. '10, 1952

